A health insurance policy covers you against the medical expenses incurred in case of hospitalization. Depending on the type of health insurance you chose, the medical costs can include hospitalization costs, domiciliary hospitalization, day-care procedures, pre, and post-hospitalization costs, etc. Just like other insurance policies, a health insurance policy has to be renewed every year to enjoy continuous coverage.
Forgetting to renew your health insurance on time should be avoided at all costs as it can lead to several complexities. However, if you still have grace period time, you don't need to panic. The grace period gives you a few days to renew your policy in case you missed your policy expiry date. You can restart the plan by paying the renewal premium during the grace period. The continuity benefits of reduction in the waiting period and no claim bonus would be valid in such policy which was renewed during the grace period. You can easily renew your health insurance policy online through the insurer's website.
Even though there is a grace period approved for reviving an expired health insurance policy, the grace period does not offer any coverage. If you make any claims during the period, the insurer will not pay any compensation, and you'll have to bear the same.
Worst-case scenarios-
If you fail to renew your health insurance policy even after the grace period, then your plan will lapse, and you will have to buy a new one.
It is always an excellent plan to renew your health insurance policy before it lapses. You will have to face several negative impacts if you don't renew your health insurance on time-
No Coverage in the interim period:
During the interim period, there is no health insurance coverage offered in case of a lapsed policy. Given the sky-scraping medical costs, these expenses could exhaust your savings.
Portability:
When your policy gets lapsed, you cannot port it to a different company. The request for porting a plan should be made 45-60 days before the policy expiry date and not after the expiry of the policy period.
Renewal Benefits:
If you forget to renew your policy timely, even after the grace period, you will lose the renewal benefits of your existing health insurance policy.
Waiting Period:
If your policy lapses, you lose the continuity benefits of the waiting period on pre-existing diseases. As the policy gets expired, you will have to buy a new health insurance policy with a new waiting period from 2-4 years or as defined by the insurance company.
Lifelong Renewability & Other Features:
If you are a senior citizen and your policy gets expired, then you won't be able to enjoy the benefits of lifelong coverage. If you fail to renew your health insurance policy within the grace period, you might not even find a health insurance plan for your age.
No Claim Bonus:
Last but not least, you will also lose the No Claim Bonus if you forget to renew the health insurance policy.